What Happened To The Dogs On The Titanic?

The survival rate of different types of passengers on the Titanic has long been part of the doomed ocean liner's folklore.

But while we've all seen the breakdowns of women and children vs. men, and first class passengers vs. steerage passengers, little has been said about how man's best friend fared when an iceberg prematurely ended the Titanic's voyage.

Until now.

Titanic expert J. Joseph Edgette recently spent eight months researching the dogs of the Titanic, and has concluded there were 12 pooches on the ship with three surviving its sinking.

According to Edgette, only first class passengers were allowed to take dogs with them, which would explain the relatively small number of canines aboard. The three surviving dogs were all very small -- two Pomeranians and a Pekingese -- so this wasn't a case of pets surviving at the expense of humans. "The dogs that survived were so small that it's doubtful anyone even realized they were being carried to the lifeboats," Edgette explained.

And what about the cats, cat people are surely wondering? The Titanic did have a cat on board during its test runs for the purpose of catching rats. However, the kitty was spotted exiting the ship during its last stop before its notorious crash, taking all of her kittens with her. So score one for feline intuition.